Conventional techniques for updating signaling protocols in communication system elements are problematic in that such techniques often require manual intervention by a system administrator or technician. For example, a generally accepted user-network interface (UNI) signaling protocol for ATM networks is the UNI 3.1 protocol, described in the reference specification ATM Forum, “ATM User-Network Interface Specification,” Version 3.1, September 1994, which is incorporated by reference herein. However, newer, more advanced versions of this UNI signaling protocol are also available, such as, e.g., the UNI 4.0 version described in ATM Forum, “ATM User-Network Interface (UNI) Signaling Specification,” Version 4.0, July 1996, which is incorporated by reference herein. In addition, previous developments in this area suggest that there will be further enhancements to these and other similar network signaling protocols in the future. Unfortunately, if an upgrade is made to the signaling protocol used by any terminal, switch or other piece of equipment connected to a given local switch of the system, it is currently necessary to also update the version of the signaling protocol in the local switch so as to match that of the attached equipment. As previously noted, this may require manual intervention by the system administrator or technician to update the version of the signaling protocol, e.g., in a system database associated with the local switch.
The need for the above-described updating approach is attributable to the fact that newer versions of the signaling protocol typically enable functions that allow new user features or support more effective operation of the system. For example, the ATM Forum UNI 3.1 signaling protocol is associated with a connection admission control function that allocates a requested amount of bandwidth at call establishment time, based on the contents of a control message (SETUP) that originates a call. If available, this amount of bandwidth is dedicated to that call instance for the duration of the call. However, the UNI 4.0 signaling protocol supports additional information, made available as part of the call establishment process, that can be used to negotiate the actual amount of bandwidth that the particular call instance will use. This latter amount of bandwidth may be smaller than the amount originally requested in the SETUP message, and in that case the connection admission control function can release the unused bandwidth back to the available pool for assignment to another call. This increases the level of bandwidth utilization efficiency for the system.
The updating problem is further complicated in that certain customer premises equipment (CPE) may run a variety of signaling protocol versions, e.g., UNI 3.1, UNI 4.0, etc., and may upgrade their protocol software without notification to their service provider. Such an upgrade can result in a logical capabilities mismatch between the CPE and its corresponding local switch.
Although many network elements may be configured to support an Integrated Local Management Information (ILMI) protocol to share management information between peer network elements, certain network elements may choose not to support the ILMI protocol or other similar information-sharing protocol. In situations in which there is no ILMI support or similar communication mechanism between the network and the CPE, information such as the protocol version generally must be manually administered, both at installation and update time.
In view of the foregoing, it is apparent that a need exists for improved techniques for managing updates of signaling protocols in communication system elements.